Car not going into 5th gear?

Have you just sat while the car is either off, or with the clutch constantly depressed, to try shift it into 5th? It might have a weird gate or have an angle you need to use but you're not used to it yet?

Also if you hold the gear stick to the left side, like you're holding a glass of water with your left hand. That should help, as it'll be harder to accidentally drop it into 3rd. Also, if something is actually wrong with your gearstick, it may be covered by your warranty.

Hi guys,

So I have a 2018 Citroen C1 Puretech flair 1.2 (bit of a mouthful lol). I got it brand new in October so it's had no previous owners.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but when I'm in 4th gear and try to go into 5th gear it appears to be dropping into 3rd instead (revs go up, car jolts and makes insane amount of noise, and tells me to shift up a gear). The first few times I used 5th gear I didnt have this issue it worked fine. It happened occasionally after but generally still worked, and now EVERY time I try 5th gear it happens. I've tried so many things, pushing it completely along and upwards slowly, doing it more quickly and relaxed. Nothing seems to work!

I was certain this was a technical error but my dad tried it for me and he said it was fine. Something in me just cant believe him lol I dont know what I'm doing wrong! I even showed him what it does when I do it and he said it doesn't look like I'm doing anything wrong either.

Just as an extra note, my foot is completely pressing down the clutch and I'm definitely going fast enough to go into 5th.

Has anyone else had this issue? Or any experiences like this with Citroen c1? (Or similar models e.g Toyota auto or Peugeot 108?)

Any help would be super appreciated, I want to try everything before wasting time at a garage for them to tell me it's me doing something wrong lol!

I’ve been driving a C3 for 3 years and whilst I haven’t noticed any specific issues about 4th to 5th, the gearbox as a whole is definitely a bit looser than the Fiesta I learnt in. It took a bit of getting used to, but I just have to be more careful.

There’s some good videos like the following on how to position your hand to reduce the chance of selecting the wrong gear:

https://youtu.be/mu_UPE-ehEA

You don't need 5th gear unless you are motorway driving, you can even drive on a motorway in 4th gear, but you will burn a ton more fuel and give more pain to the engine.

It sounds to me like it's your technique which is the issue. You might just be a bit too heavy handed and going straight up to 3rd from 4th.

When I go from 4th to 5th I allow the gearstick to naturally "spring" into neutral first and from the LHS of the gearstick use my palm to guide it right and up to 5th.

As someone mentioned. Practice going from 4th to 5th whilst the car is stationary.

My C3 likely has the same engine and gearbox as the OP and it’ll prompt me to change into 5th around 45mph for fuel efficiency. So this will definitely need resolving even if they never see a motorway

Being a new car the gearbox could actually be much notchier than you are used to. After 10k miles most manuals are better than when they are brand new as they loosen up and you can push across from 2nd-3rd and 4th-5th.

With that being said if you are struggling to get it into gear when sitting stationary and thinking about nothing other than changing gear there must surely be a problem with the car. There is only one way to change gear.

If it's fine while stationary and only a problem on the move then no one here is going to be able to help you.

And anyone who says you don't need 5th unless you're on a motorway needs some more driving lessons with a decent instructor. Talk about teaching people how to pass the test rather than how to drive!

Bad synchros maybe?

I'm not too great with technical terms lol, would would make synchros bad in my case?

Poor quality gearbox or terrible care taken of it. Normally it's a sign the previous owner absolutely ragged the hell out of your car and is more common in ford/renault hot hatches and and 1l turbos, but your car was owned from new. Needless to say, take it to Citroen under warranty, best case scenario it's just you; it costs nothing to find out.